Editor's Note: This is one in a series of articles on this weekend's Sherburne Pageant of Bands published in a special section in Thursday's Evening Sun.

By Jon Armstrong

Correspondent

CLASS AA

BROOKINGS - Under the direction of Mr. Ronald Stary, the Brookings High School Band is coming to the Sherburne Pageant of Bands all the way from the great state of South Dakota. The Bobcats will also be making a tour of the state of New York. Prior to the pageant, the band will visit Niagara Falls. Following the pageant they will head to New York City where they will tour the Empire State Building, Coney Island, Ground Zero, Ellis Island and the Statute of Liberty. Brookings is entering the jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, parade color guard and cadence competitions at the pageant. In 2007 the band participated in the Cotton Bowl Parade in Dallas, Texas. This past fall Brookings attended marching band festivals in Luverne, Brandon and Sioux Falls. At the Quad State Finals in October of 2011 the band placed fifth in Class AAA. During the winter months the Brookings jazz ensemble attended the Northland Jazz Fest, the Mitchell HS Jazz Fest and the South Dakota State University Jazz Fest. Annually, the band also performs in the SDSU Hobo Days Parade.

FONDA-FULTONVILLE - Making their 13th pageant appearance this year are the Braves from Fonda-Fultonville. They have attended the Sherburne Paegant every year since 1998, except for 2009 and 2010. At last year’s pageant Fonda-Fultonville took home a first place trophy for their high school jazz ensemble and a second place trophy for their junior jazz ensemble. At this year’s pageant the Braves will compte in the HS jazz, junior jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade and parade color guard contests. The Braves have also competed at the Springville Pageant of Bands in 2010 and at the 2009 Gorham Pageant of Bands, where they won the class championship award. Aside from the Sherburne Pageant Fonda-Fultonville also participates in jazz festivals and local parades. This past May the band and chorus traveled to Ohio.

MEXICO - This year marks one dozen trips to the Sherburne Pageant for Mexico. They first attended the pageant in 1999 and have come to every pageant since then except for 2000 and 2004. At the 2010 Sherburne Pageant Mexico walked away with nine trophies, including the class championship award. Last year Mexico won first place in small ensemble and junior jazz, second place in HS jazz, third place in both HS and junior concert band contests and fourth in the parade. This past winter Mexico’s indoor winterguard placed fourth in their division at the Mid-York Color Guard Circuit Championships. In February the band traveled to Nashville where they attended music clinic, toured the Country Music Hall of Fame and a recording studio and enjoyed a National Hockey League game. Mexico’s marching band will also be participating in Canastota’s Boxing Hall of Fame Parade on June 10th as well as the Mexico Fireman’s Field Days Parade in July.

NORWICH - The Purple Tornados from Norwich have attended all but one of the pageants in Sherburne. Their history at the pageant is one that is filled with many successes. They have been either first or second in jazz twenty-four times and either first or second in the parade forty-four times! In the ten years of the existence of the cadence contest Norwich has placed first seven times and second three times. The Purple Tornados have been named class champions nine times since 1997 and in 2008 they won the Frank L. Miller Outstanding Director Award and the Albert Whitney Overall Achievement Award. At last year’s pageant Norwich brought home five first place trophies (jazz, parade, junior concert band, cadence and parade color guard), one second place award (small ensemble) and a fourth place trophy (concert band). At this year’s pageant look for Norwich to have groups entered in jazz, junior jazz, small ensemble, concert band, junior concert band, parade, parade color guard and cadence. Norwich is a charter member of the New York State Field Band Conference, which was formed in Sherburne in 1972. This past fall the Purple Tornados place first twice, second twice and third twice on their way to a fifth place finish at the New York State Field Band Conference Championships at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

PULASKI - Pulaski’s first pageant appearance was way back in 1965. They didn’t win any trophies that year, but since returning to the pageant on a regular basis in 1992 the band has been very successful. In fact, Pulaski has taken first place in the parade for the past seven years and their drumline has been first seven out of the ten times that event has been offered at the pageant. Pulaski has also won the class championship title four times, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2010. At last year’s Sherburne Pageant they took first in parade, second in jazz, small ensemble and cadence, third in parade color guard and fourth in concert band. Pulaski also won the Norman Palmitier Percussion Award last year. At this year’s Sherburne Pageant Pulaski will compete in parade color guard, cadence, parade, concert band, small ensemble and jazz.

CLASS A

APW - Last year APW won the class championship award in class A. The Rebels, from the communities of Altmar, Parrish and Williamstonw, won first place in concert band, second in cadence and parade as well as third place in jazz, small ensemble and parade color guard. At this year’s pageant APW will enter all six of the events offered at Sherburne in hopes of successfully defending their class championship. This year will mark APW’s 29th pageant appearance. They competed at Sherburne from 1976 to 1983, but have returned every year since 1992. APW has been very successful at the Sherburne Pageant. They have placed either first of second in the parade 18 times. In the eight years the cadence event has been offered at the pageant APW has placed first 6 times and second twice. The Rebels also won the class championship award in 1994 as well as the Norman Palmitier Percussion Award in 2009 and 2010. During the winter months APW sponsors a very successful winterguard program. This past April the APW winterguard won first place in their class at the Mid-York Color Guard Circuit Championships.

BLOOMFIELD - Coming from Ontario County near Canandaigua are the Bloomfield Bombers. In their ten trips to Sherburne Bloomfield has taken first place in concert band every time. They have also taken first place nine of the ten times in jazz ensemble as well as the class championship award seven times. Bloomfield has also placed in the top three in their class in the small ensemble and parade competitions at Sherburne for the last seven years in a row. At this year’s Sherburne Pageant of Bands Bloomfield hopes to add to their trophy count by having groups entered in the jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard events. In May Bloomfield attended the Darien Lake Music Festival and marched in the Henrietta Memorial Day Parade.

MARION - This year marks the twenty-fifth straight appearance at the Sherburne Pageant of Bands for the Black Knights from Marion. During their years at the pageant Marion has won first place in the parade 22 times and first in concert band 22 times. They also have won the class championship award in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2009. Marion has also won class champions at other spring band pageants in Gorham, Seneca Falls and Springville. In fact, Marion was named the grand champions at the 2004 Springville Pageant of Bands. This year Marion will enter groups in the jazz, small ensemble, HS concert band, junior concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard competition. Marion also marches in the Williamson Apple Blossom Festival Parade each May.

SANDY CREEK - Competing the concert band, parade and parade color guard events will be the Sandy Creek Comets. At last year’s pageant they placed fifth in concert band, third in the parade and second in parade color guard. 2012 will mark their eight pageant in Sherburne. Sandy Creek made their first Sherburne appearance in 2003 when they won third in the parade. The Comets also participated in the 04, 05, 07 and 08 pageants in Sherburne and have consistently placed among the top bands in concert band and parade. During the past ten years Sandy Creek has also participated in the Gorham Pageant of Bands. At Gorham they have finished first in the parade three times and third two times. Aside from pageant competition the Comets are active in many parades in and around Oswego County.

SIDNEY - The Sidney Warriors have competed at every Sherburne Pageant of Bands since 1968, except for 1979 and 1984. This year will mark their 42nd trip to Sherburne, placing them 10th on the list of most pageant appearances. Their history at the pageant is marked with many success stories. They have placed in the top three in jazz 21 times, the top three in concert band 20 times and the top three in parade 12 times. Sidney has also been named the champions in the class four times (97, 98, 99 and 03). At last year’s pageant they were second in HS concert band, third in junior concert band and fifth in the parade. This year the Warriors will be entering groups in the jazz, junior jazz, small ensemble, concert band, junior concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard competitions. Sidney’s jazz band has also participated in various festivals around the state and the entire band has also traveled to Florida to perform at Disney World.

CLASS B

DOLGEVILLE - The Blue Devils from Dolgeville will mark their 16th straight pageant appearanace this year. Dolgeville will also feature groups in the concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard competitions. Since the start of the cadence contest at the Sherburne Pageant in 2003, Dolgeville has placed in the top three of that event each year. At the 2011 pageant the Blue Devils won second place in both the parade and concert band contests plus third in cadence. In 2010 Dolgeville took home first in concert band, second in cadence and fifth in the parade. Prior to their first Sherburne appearance in 1997, Dolgeville regularly attended the now defunct Mohawk Pageant. On June 9th the marching Blue Devils will perform in Dolgeville’s Violet Festival Parade.

MARATHON - This year marks the sixth straight Sherbune Pageant appearance by Marathon. Last year, the Olympians won fifth place in the parade competition. In 2010 they were third in jazz and small ensemble and in 2009 they won second in small ensemble, third in concert band and jazz and fifth in the parade. At this year’s Sherburne Pageant Marathon will be entering competitive groups in jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard. Marathon competed at the 2010 and 2011 Seneca Falls Pageant of Bands. In 2010 they won second place in concert band and parade plus third in jazz. At last year’s Seneca Falls Pageant Marathon took fourth in jazz. In 2009 the band traveled to the Gorham Pageant of Bands where they earned fourth in concert, fifth in jazz and fifth in parade. On June fifth the Olympians will be marching in the Cortland Dairy Days Parade.

MCGRAW - For their 29th pageant appearance McGraw will compete in the jazz, small ensemble, concert, cadence and parade color guard events at Sherburne. The band has a long tradition of doing very well at the pageant. Their first pageant appearance was 60 years ago in 1952 and then 50 years ago in 1962. McGraw then returned to the pageant from 1983-1988. During that era they won the 1985 Frank L. Miller Outstanding Director Award and the Albert Whitney Overall Achievement Award. McGraw then sat out of several pageants before returning on a regular basis in 1994. Since then the Eagles have been very successful with many top three finishes in jazz, parade and concert band. In 2007 they were named the class champions in their division. Last year McGraw took second in jazz and first in parade color guard. They will also participate in the Cortland Dairy Days Parade on June 5th.

OXFORD - This year will mark the 60th Sherburne Pageant of Bands appearance by Oxford. In their previous pageants Oxford has won over 150 trophies. Among their many accomplishments are finishing in the top three in parade thirty-two times, the top three of concert band thirty-one times and the top three in jazz twenty-one times. Oxford has won the overall class championship award in 1995, 96, 97, 98, 00, 01, 03 and 04. In 2001 the Blackhawks took home the Frank L. Miller Outstanding Director Award and the Albert Whitney Grand Achievement Award. At the 2010 pageant they won first in jazz, second in small ensemble, third in cadence and concert band and fourth in the parade. Last year the Blackhawks won third in junior concert band and junior jazz band as well as fifth place in their class in the parade. This year Oxford will feature group competing in junior jazz ensemble, concert band, junior concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard.

WATERVILLE - Last year Waterville won the class championship award in Class C. To accomplish that they won first place in jazz, small ensemble and concert band plus second in cadence, third in parade color guard and fourth in parade. This year they will enter groups in jazz, junior jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard in hopes of collecting another class championship title. Waterville also won the class championship title in 2009. This year marks their twenty-ninth Sherburne Pageant. They first competed at Sherburne in 1951 and 1952, then returned to the pageant from 1984 to 1989. Since 1992 they have attended every Sherburne Pageant. Waterville has met with great success in the jazz competition where they have placed in the top three every year for the past dozen years. Their concert band has been among the top three in their class each year for the past six years.

WEST CANADA VALLEY - In their eight previous trips to Sherburne West Canada Valley has come away with the class championship award three times, 2007, 2008 and 2010. They have placed in the top three in their class in concert band each time they have competed at Sherburne. West Canada Valley comes from Newport, NY in Herkimer County. At last year’s pageant West Canada Valley picked up six trophies. They were first in parade color guard and cadence, second in HS concert band and junior concert band, third in jazz and fourth in parade. At this year’s pageant they will feature performing groups in jazz, small ensemble, concert band, junior concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard. This past April the West Canada Valley indoor color guard came away with a tie for second place in their class at the Mid-York Color Guard Circuit Championships at East Syracuse-Minoa HS.

CLASS C

ANDOVER - Andover’s Panthers will make their 21st Sherburne Pageant appearance this weekend. They are always a favorite in the parade due to their many formation changes and fun music. For the past six years Andover has placed among the top three in the parade competition in their class. In addition to placing first in their class at last year’s pageant parade they also won fourth in concert band and picked up the award for the best parade drum major. In 2010 at Sherburne the Panthers took home second in the parade and concert band contests. For the 2012 pageant Andover will enter groups in concert band, parade cadence and parade color guard. Aside from their annual trip to Sherburne, Andover actively participates in many parades and events in and around their Allegany County area.

CHERRY VALLEY-SPRINGFIELD - Also making their 21st pageant appearance this weekend are the Patriots from Cherry Valley-Springfield. 1988 marked their first trip to Sherburne and since then the Patriots have met with good success. They have placed in the top three twelve times in the jazz contest and have been among the top three in concert band five times. At the 2009 Sherburne Pageant Cherry Valley-Springfield picked up a third place trophy in concert band and a fifth place trophy for the parade. In 2010 they were third in small ensemble and jazz. At last year’s pageant the Patriots took home a second place award in the small ensemble competition. This year they will enter competition in the jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard contests.

EDMESTON - The Panthers from Edmeston have a long, proud tradition at the Sherburne Pageant of Bands that stretches back to 1960 when they entered their first competition. This year will be their twenty-seventh pageant appearance. To mark that milestone Edmeston will compete in jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard. During the 1960’s Edmeston had one of the top indoor color guards at the Sherburne Pageant. In the 80’s the Panthers continued to do well in the color guard contest as well as the parade competition. In more recent years they have won a number of trophies in each of Sherburne’s events.. Last year the Panthers took home third place awards in jazz, small ensemble and parade.

MILFORD - For their fourteenth pageant appearance Milford will feature seven competitive groups. The Wildcats will enter the jazz, two small ensembles, high school concert band, junior concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard competitions. Since 2006 when Milford returned to active pageant competition they have won several trophies. Their jazz ensemble and marching band has placed third twice. Milford’s high concert band has won a third and fourth place trophy and in 2011 their junior concert band has won third place. They have also placed first in small ensemble and received a third in cadence. The first pageant appearances for Milford were in the early 60’s, 1961, 1962 and 1965. Milford also appeared in the Sherburne Pageant of bands from 1971 through 1975.

MORRIS - This year will mark the 57th pageant appearance for Morris. Their first trip to the pageant was in 1951 and then they skipped a few years. However, Morris has attended every pageant since 1956. Morris has been very successful at the Sherburne Pageant. They have placed in the top three concert bands in their class 37 times and in the top three in the parade competition 17 times. They have also won numerous other awards in jazz and color guard. Just last year Morris collected second place for parade color guard and a pair of third place awards for concert band and parade. At this year’s pageant they will look to add to their collection of Sherburne Pageant trophies by entering the jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard competitions.

RICHFIELD SPRINGS - The Richfield Springs Indians have attended every Sherburne Pageant since 1973 and prior to that they attended the 1951 pageant. This year will mark their 41st time to compete at Sherburne. Richfield Springs will enter groups in each of the pageant’s events; jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard. Last year they won first place in the cadence contest. Over the years the Indians have been very successful at Sherburne, winning class championships in 1994 and 2002 as well as the Frank L. Miller and Albert Whitney Awards in 1986. They have placed in the top three in parade twenty-eight times and in the top three in concert band twenty-two times. From 1978 to 1987 their indoor color guard was undefeated at Sherburne. The Indians have also collected many top three trophies in other events at Sherburne such as jazz, small ensemble, field band and cadence

CLASS D

CHARLOTTE VALLEY - Competing in jazz, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard will be the Wildcats from Charlotte Valley Central School in Davenport, NY. This year will be the sixteenth Sherburne Pageant for them. Their first trips to Sherburne were in 1995 and 1996. Charlotte Valley sat out the 97 pageant, but they have returned every year since 1998. Last year they finished third in parade color guard. In 2010 they placed first in parade color guard as well as third in concert band. Among their other accomplishments at the Sherburne Pageant of Bands are several fourth and fifth place finishes in concert band and parade. The Wildcats look forward to adding to their Sherburne Pageant trophy collection this year.

GILBERTSVILLE-MOUNT UPTON-Since 1991 Gilbertsville-Mount Upton has attended every Sherburne Pageant of Bands, making this year their twenty-second appearance. They have met with great success at the pageant, winning the class champions title in 200, 2008, 2009 and 2010. GMU has placed in the top three in jazz eleven times, concert band nine times and parade eight times. At the 2011 pageant they brought home second place in concert band as well as third in small ensemble and cadence. In 2010 they won first place in jazz, small ensemble and cadence as well as second place in parade and parade color guard plus a third place finish in concert band. This year the Rams will send groups to the pageant to compete in jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard. The Gilbertsville-Mount Upton band members and boosters have been busy raising money for new uniforms.

LAURENS - Since 1993 Laurens has won the class championship title every year at the Sherburne Pageant of Bands. In fact, 1993 was the first year the pageant handed out that award. They have won the Frank L. Miller Outstanding Director Award sixteen times and the Albert Whitney Overall Achievement Award seventeen times (1977, 1993-2000, 2003-2007 and 2009-2011). Other accomplishments have included first place finishes in jazz ensemble since 1992 and first place in concert band since 2002. This year will mark their forty-fifth pageant appearance and in that time Laurens has won nearly 150 trophies at Sherburne. Look for them at this year’s pageant in the jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard events. This past winter the indoor color guard from Laurens finished fourth in their class at the Mid-York Color Guard Circuit Championships at East Syracuse-Minoa HS.

OPPENHEIM-EPHRATAH - This year will mark the twenty-fourth Sherburne Pageant for Oppenheim-Ephratah. They have attended every pageant since 1989 and have met with great success in competition at Sherburne. Among the bands in the parade the Marching Hawks have placed in the top three twenty-one times. Their jazz ensemble, called The Black River Jazz, has been in top three twenty times. O-E has also placed in the top three in events such as small ensemble, concert band, parade color guard and cadence numerous times. This year they will be entered in the jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard events. Aside from the Sherburne Pageant the Hawks are very active in parades. During the past twenty years they have placed first in the Syracuse St. Patrick’s Parade. Oppenheim-Ephratah annually marches at the New York State Fair and in many local parades. They have also traveled extensively throughout the northeast and midwest to festivals and parades.

POLAND - The Tornados from Poland Central School will be making their 44th Sherburne Pageant appearance this weekend. They have a long, proud tradition of excellence when it comes to competing at Sherburne which stretches back to their first pageant in 1964. Poland won the Frank L. Miller Outstanding Director Award in 1978 as well as eight straight concert band victories (with a perfect score from the judges on more than one occasion) and seven straight jazz band victories in the 70’s and 80’s. More recently Poland has won numerous awards. At the 2010 Sherburne Pageant they placed third in parade and parade color guard as well as fourth in concert band. Last year they were second in parade color guard, third in concert band and fifth in the parade. This year Poland will enter groups in concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard at Sherburne.

WORCESTER - For their nineteenth pageant appearance Worcester will feature eight competitive groups. They will enter the jazz, junior jazz, small ensemble, high school concert band, junior concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard competitions. Worcester attended their first Sherburne Pageant in 1994 and has returned every year since then. Over the years they have proved to be very successful, placing among the top three jazz bands in their class twelve times and the top three parade bands ten times. Worcester has also finished in the top three a total of nine times in the concert band and cadence events. In 2010 the Wolverines took home first place in concert band, second place in jazz and cadence as well as third in the parade and small ensemble events. Last year they were second in jazz, parade color guard and junior concert band as well as fifth in parade and concert band.

Junior High/Middle School

MEXICO - While Mexico Middle School has competed at Sherburne in either jazz, small ensemble or concert band since 2008 this year will mark the first competitive appearance of their marching band. They will also enter cadence and parade color guard contests for the first time.. In fact, Mexico Middle School will compete in all six of the pageant’s events; jazz, small ensemble, concert band, parade, cadence and parade color guard-the only junior band to enter every event at Sherburne. Mexico is also the only junior band to enter the Sherburne Pageant parade since 2008 when North Syracuse made their final pageant appearance. In 2009 they won third place in concert band and jazz at Sherburne. The following year they matched that accomplishment. At last year’s Sherburne Pageant Mexico Middle School took first place in the small ensemble competition.

HOST BAND

SHERBURNE-EARLVILLE - The Sherburne-Earlville Marauders have been recognized for their excellent music program for over 40 years. This year one of their band members has been selected to be among the 250 students from across the nation to perform in the All American Marching Band at the 2012 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City! In just over a month Sherburne-Earlville’s Marching Marauders will combine with students from APW and Pulaski high schools to perform in the Hamilton 4th of July Parade. In recent years Sherburne-Earlville has marched in parades in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Maine and New Jersey. In 2010 Sherburne-Earlville placed second out of twenty-one bands from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana at the Football Hall of Fame Parade in Canton, Ohio. They have also marched in many other local events such as Canastota’s Boxing Hall of Fame Parade, Colonial Days in Painted Post and at the opening ceremonies for the NYS Special Olympics. This past winter their indoor color guard placed sixth in their class at the Mid-York Color Guard Circuit Championships.